


I Don’t Want to Need You Like This

by spaceprincess97



Category: Dalton Academy Series
Genre: I just don’t think their story is over, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28708521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaceprincess97/pseuds/spaceprincess97
Summary: So Sebastian isn’t going to prom. But maybe Julian isn’t either.
Relationships: Julian Larson-Armstrong/Sebastian Smythe
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	I Don’t Want to Need You Like This

He’d been weighing it back and forth for days, if it was worth it to fly back to Ohio and confront everything he left behind. He owed it to them, after everything. But he wasn’t sure he had the strength to face them. Face him. 

And then, of course, there was that text. An address to a hotel downtown. A room number. 

_I’ll be waiting,_ it said. _four days._

He wasn’t sure he had the strength to face that either. 

It wasn’t fair to be angry at Sebastian, especially now, months later. But he still felt it sometimes anyway. He understood, of course he did—but he couldn’t help but wonder if Sebastian had made it on time, he could have avoided this altogether, somehow. It was this ghost of potential, the void in place of the promise of something better, that kept him just a little aggrieved. 

Of course, then the gifts showed up. Macarons from Ladurée. Champagne that Sebastian shouldn’t have been able to purchase this side of the Atlantic. Sunflowers. Cufflinks, engraved with little keys. 

_I can’t be bought,_ was Julian’s reply. 

_three days,_ was Sebastian’s. 

Then there were the pictures. None of the two of them, none of those existed anymore. But things they had seen together. _Venus de Milo._ A half empty cup of coffee. The cathedral, lit up at night. A blurry shot of one Dior glove, with the caption,

_remember this, kitten? Two days._

Clark texted him the next day, told him he was heading out to Ohio early to check in on his step-brother. He offered to take Julian with him. Julian said no. He still hadn’t committed either way, and he refused to until fate forced his hand. 

His phone rang later that day and he let it go to voicemail. Sebastian didn’t leave a message. 

_did you really think I’d answer?_

_thought I’d give it a shot. One more day._

That night, Julian dreamt of fire. The smoke was thick in his lungs and he tried to scream, but all that came out was a hoarse whimper. He was trapped. Alone. No one was coming back for him. 

He woke with a start, heart pounding. Before he could think about it, he fumbled for his phone on the nightstand and dialed. As it rang, he sucked in breath after breath of cool, clear night air. 

“Julian?”

To call so late like this, to break the rules of the game they didn’t say they were playing—it seemed like Sebastian already knew something was wrong. 

“How much time do I have left?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Sebastian’s voice was quiet, but self-assured. 

“Can you be here?”

“I—yes.”

Julian gave him whispered directions, the gate code, the passcode to the garage, the pin for the security system. He heard the shuffle of feet on carpet, the jingle of keys as Sebastian left the hotel room. 

“Do you want me to stay on the phone?” Sebastian asked. 

“Yes,” Julian said, his eyes closed. 

Sebastian didn’t say anything for most of the drive, but it was comforting to hear him. To know that the gentle rev of the engine and the tick of his turn signal would lead him back to Julian. 

“Can I ask you something?” Julian’s heart rate had settled, leaving him calmer but very awake.

“Anything.” He heard the crunch of gravel under car tires. 

“Do you ever think about what would have happened...” 

It felt wrong to talk about it. They promised they wouldn’t, after all. But it was all he could think about.

“I tried,” was all Sebastian said in response. He killed the engine. 

“What?”

“To make it on time. I wasn’t going to try, I was just going to let you go. And then—“

“You changed your mind.” Julian processed this new information. “And you were still too late.” 

“Yeah,” Sebastian said with a sigh. Julian heard the garage rumble open. 

“You’re an idiot.”

“Well—” a soft beeping as Sebastian disabled the alarm. “Maybe so, kitten, but you could have stayed.”

“I held up my end of the deal.” Julian rolled over, pushing the covers off. 

“And so did I.” Sebastian paused. “Is there anyone else here?”

“No.”

“Your mom?”

“Shooting.”

“Typical.”

He stopped trying so hard to be quiet after that. It wasn’t long before Julian could hear his shoes clacking softly against the wood floor down the hallway to his door. 

Julian stood and opened the door. 

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

Their voices bounced and echoed from the phone call they had yet to end. It was odd to see Sebastian like this, in warm weather clothes in Julian’s house. Like he’d cut and pasted pieces of his memory together to conjure him here. Sebastian hung up on the call. 

“Are you—”

Before Sebastian could finish, Julian was holding him, clinging to him like it would give him strength. Sebastian caught him without missing a beat, pulling him closer. He pressed a kiss to Julian’s hair. 

“Come on.”

He guided Julian back to bed and under the covers. He slipped off his shoes and slid in next to him. Explanations, apologies, promises—all that could wait until tomorrow. Tonight, Julian just needed to feel safe. A little less alone. He fell asleep with Sebastian’s hand warm in his. 

Julian woke up on the morning of Prom with Sebastian’s arms wrapped around him. His phone buzzed with a text from Clark. A single question mark. 

“Whosit?” Sebastian mumbled. 

“Clark.”

“What’s he want?” He kissed Julian’s shoulder where his t-shirt had slipped down. 

“Asking if I’m going to prom.”

Sebastian paused. 

“Are you?”

Julian curled into him closer. 

“No.”

He didn’t want to. He didn’t need to. After all… he had everything he wanted right there. And this time, he wasn’t letting go. 

  
  



End file.
